The late Sir Lynden Pindling's birthday – March 22 – is being touted as the most likely date for the next general election.
Political insiders are claiming that Prime Minister Perry Christie has decided Sir Lynden's birthday ﾠis the ideal date to call the elections but has to officially inlorm his Cabinet. According to Tribune sources, this would be in keeping with the party's current strategy of "draping themselves in the legacy of Sir Lynden" – a ﾠstrategy which was said to be one of the major reasons they were catapulted to victory in 2002.
However; there are some observers who are sceptical that Mr Christie would have let out the date of the election six months ahead of time, but they did conclude that March was not totally out of the realm of possibility.
Many also agreed that currently, the PLP appears to have taken as part of its election strategy the "parading about" of Sir Lynden's legacy.
While not commenting on the speculation on the election date, Felix Bethel, a former government and politics lecturer at the College of the Bahamas, said that Sir Lyden's legacy is a real asset to the party and is no doubt being used in some form for the next general election.
"Sir Lynden's death in August 26, 2000 catapulted the Progressive Liberal Party to power: There's no doubt about that, that event was a singular event in the history of the country as important to the mind of the black Bahamian as significant as January 10, 1967. The death of this man who became patriarch, chief," Mr Bethel said.
There were other things that occurred leading up to the 2002 ﾠelection that diminished the popularity of the FNM, including the referendum and the near implosion of the banking sector, but according to Mr Bethel the singular event that got things rolling for the PLP was Sir Lynden's death.
"This is the year 2006 going into 2007 the Pindling card is being played. We saw it being played in the naming of the airport, a massive event that shows you that the legacy of Sir Lynden is real and therefore politically potent. I suspect that there will be some honour or other for Lady Pindling which will secure in the mind of the people the place of this man and woman and that family.
"It is a family with a large legacy, a large name so the party that secures itself in that and owns that legacy gains that support. But will it get support from people who are removed in time from that legacy? That remains to be seen," Mr Bethel said.
Nevertheless, Mr Bethel said the upcoming election will be the last time the country would have to deal with the direct legacy of Sir Lynden Pindling.
"Going into the next election it would really be Pindling verses Pindling. Perry Christie and his former law partner Mr Ingraham is one aspect of the Pindling legacy against one aspect of the Pindling legacy," he said.
However, Mr Bethel said he does not believe that the PLP will lose the next election.
"I don't believe (Ingraham) has to this point made a compelling case for his return as leader of the country. He was able to make a case for being leader of the FNM because the men who would be leader of the FNM were so massively mediocre.
"Mr Ingraham is now remaking the FNM. The question for him is does he have the time to do it? I don't believe he has sufficient time. If I was told that he was preparing the groundworks for the year 2012 I would say he is off to an excellent start," Mr Bethel said.
The various scandals that have followed the PLP through this administration, he said, will not factor in the decisions the electorate will make in the next general election.
"The history shows you that in 1987 when the PLP was wallowing in scandal and corruption the PLP won. The Bahamas is not a place where sandal, unfortunately, brings down anyone. You have to mix scandal with hard times. That is the brew, scandal and hard times. But if you have scandal and money, the Bahamian who has moved from piracy to all sorts of plundering as part of his psyche will say let the good times roll," Mr Bethel said.
By RUPERT MISSOCK Jr Chief Reporter
